Page 74 of Someone Just Followed You

Chapter 85

Maple

@Tabitha.Penrod12, TikTok

I go to school with Maple and I used to wish I was her. Until I found a video of her in a shitty diaper on her YouTube channel. I mean, that’s embarrassing, right? But I feel bad about that now #findMaple

This room smells of dirt and decay. There are windows, but they’re covered in so much newspaper, it’s constantly dark. When Brandon took me to the bathroom, he let me close the door, thank God. But there was nothing in there to help me. No window to jump out of, no soap to squirt in his eyes.

So I peed, then I took the water he offered, too thirsty to care if it was spiked, and when he flicked his gun toward the bed, I lay back down and let him re-chain my limbs.

And now I’m in darkness again, with nothing to do but think. Like thinking about the water bottle I drank from in his truck, how I was impressed by the Voss label. The seal on those fancy bottles is small, so it would be easy not to notice if it was broken. I guess that’s why Brandon chose it. And if he has watched all my videos, he’ll know I don’t like Pepsi either, so I wouldn’t have taken the can.

I close my eyes. Part comfort, part shame for being so stupid. So convinced that I knew best. Why didn’t I tell Dylan about Brandon, ask him to come with me? We’re supposed to be a team; that’s what he called us. I was so arrogant, thinking that only I could save Ella. I told Coco, then didn’t listen to her warning. I was too desperate to be the hero, to prove that I’m worth something. I feel a hollowing in my chest, like my lungs are shutting down.

The only tiny slice of hope is that I messaged Coco from Brandon’s truck. I don’t have my phone – I guess the pedo freak took it – so I can’t check whether she read it. But I can’t believe she’d ignore my messages. Yes, she was pissed at me for coming here, but she wouldn’t abandon me.

And if she told the police, or Dylan, or maybe my parents, there must be a good chance they’ll find me. The bus station will have CCTV, and Coco will be able to give them pretty accurate times. Brandon was wearing a cap, another red flag I didn’t pick up on, so maybe he won’t be easy to recognize, but they must be able to track his truck.

But I have no idea where we are now, or how long I spent unconscious on the road. Maybe we traveled too far out of Vegas for cameras to continue picking us up.

Fresh tears start to build, but I rub them away because I need to have hope. Mom and Dad might not be the best parents, but they’ll have called the police in Provo when I didn’t show up on Thursday night. And I missed Friday’s show, so Dylan will be stressing too. Maybe he’s using our channel to find me, like we’ve been doing for Ella.

And Jesus, I have nearly two million subscribers of my own. How can anyone disappear with that many friends?

Except that’s exactly what happened to Ella.

I also deleted all my messages with Brandon. I thought I was being clever, keeping it a secret, but it means Mom won’t see them when she checks my TikTok. And I bet the twins have told Mom and Dad what we overheard. They’ll think I chose to leave, that I needed to get away from them.

Which I did, but shit, how could I be so fucking dumb?!

I look at the thin line of yellow light slinking under the door and feel a drowning sensation. Coco might well be my only chance to get out of here.

And I told her not to be responsible for me.

Chapter 86

Nikki, West Virginia

@hereforthedrama09, TikTok

Did anyone track down Coco yet? #findMaple

Nikki Herrera scoops up a mouthful of yoghurt, berries and granola. She doesn’t actually like yoghurt – it’s somehow both too sour and too creamy – but she follows so many wellbeing influencers on Instagram that it’s impossible to avoid the hype. She shudders slightly as she swallows, then dunks her spoon and goes again.

It’s Saturday, which means she can take as long as she likes to eat her breakfast. She takes a slurp of coffee. It’s her amateur attempt at a flat white, not quite Biggby quality, but still. She picks up her phone and starts scrolling Instagram, always her go-to social media. She watches a few cute dog memes, which sets off her daydream about having her own Frenchie one day. Then she gets lost in pickleball content, transfixed by a forty-seven-shot rally from this year’s Minto Open.

Eventually she moves on, flicking away adverts for bikinis and supplements, trying not to get jealous over her friends’ sickeningly beautiful vacation shots. When she reaches a New York Times post about a new article, she slows down, her brain whirring with something like recognition.

A SECOND KIDFLUENCER GOES MISSING

Maple Clark revealed the truth behind Ella Hart’s disappearance. Now she is missing too. What’s going on and who’s to blame?

Nikki stares at the post, curling her hair around her ears, her unruly brown mop always impossible to tame. Wasn’t that kid at camp yesterday talking about someone called Maple going missing? Nikki narrows her eyes, taps her fingernails against the glass screen of her phone. Yes, Ryan with the TikTok addiction. He called her Maybe Maple. And a boy called Dylan Dope who’s trying to find her.

Nikki doesn’t have a New York Times subscription, but she’s invested now, so she opens TikTok and searches for ‘Maple Clark goes missing’. A ton of videos come up. Mainly teenagers, but some older people too, all shouting into the camera, like their opinion is the only one that matters. She sighs. How can she be too old for something already? She’s only twenty-seven but TikTok overwhelms her half the time. She rolls her eyes in self-reproach, then switches her search to look for Dylan Dope’s profile on the app instead.

A lot of his content is skateboarding, but his most recent TikTok is a direct-to-camera piece. And as she plays the video, Nikki realizes that this is what Ryan must have been watching curled over himself on the bleachers yesterday. Dylan talking about Maple being missing and asking for help to find her friend Coco. Nikki thinks back. Wasn’t that why Ryan was all excited? Because he knew the name of Coco’s YouTube channel?